


Fear is in the Air

by SecretRock



Series: From Out of the Bat's Shadow [2]
Category: Batman: Arkham (Video Games)
Genre: Body Horror, Fear toxin used, ish, it's been bothering me for a while, not every building in Gotham is airtight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-05
Updated: 2018-02-05
Packaged: 2019-03-14 09:16:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13586985
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SecretRock/pseuds/SecretRock
Summary: With Gotham City abandoned, stores seemed to be easy pickings for loot. Of course, the store is just a temporary stop for Selina Kyle on her way to revenge on Nygma, but a girl has to look her best when kicking ass. What she doesn't count on is the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow's plan.





	Fear is in the Air

Harsh lighting had always made Selina look bad. Well, not bad, per se, but not as good as she could. Normal lighting highlighted her good cheekbones, shadows made her look mysterious and mystifying, and don’t even get started on candle light. But overly harsh lighting, neon green no less, was horrible. There were no shadows on her face, her skin was tinged a sickly-looking colour and she was sure most of her lipstick had rubbed off since she’d last been able to apply it.

Of course, that was only one reason why she was glad to have left the Pinkney Orphanage. The constant threat of death while she was there had been pretty bad too, though nothing that she hadn’t endured before. A lot of the villains really didn’t like that she didn’t pick a side. But how could she? Yes, she didn’t want to go to jail, but half the time they wanted to murder everyone who wasn’t them. That wasn’t something she couldn't get behind.

She browsed the selection of lipsticks. Half the display had been smashed in by the mailbox someone had thrown through the window. What a shame, these were expensive brands. She’d have to come back later to steal a few, after kicking Eddie’s ass. Of course, she’d have to wait for Batman to complete his inane tests before that was a possibility. What an idiot Eddie was. She can’t believe he beat her.

She picked out a deep red shade and moved to the least shattered mirror in the room. She took her time, making sure the makeup was applied perfectly. The rest of her makeup wasn’t quite up to par, though she didn’t really feel like taking the time to fix it in a shop with no lights and several criminals running around outside. She tucked the lipstick into her belt and began to browse the rest of the shop.

A large explosion shook the floor. Selina had no trouble keeping her balance, of course, even in the large high heels she always wore. She rolled her eyes. Leave it to Gotham thugs to get over zealous and blow something up. Though, it could have been Harvey or Penguin. They always had a flare for the dramatic. She could imagine Harvey blowing the front door off a bank, though that was a sure-fire way to attract Batman’s attention.

She passed another mirror as she browsed the nail polish section, catching sight of her reflection. Even in the odd lighting, she could see something odd. Her face was…different. There was something wrong about the shadows around her eyes. They seemed deeper, more intense. They gave her a bad feeling. 

The scarlet on her lips was more worrying, running off them and down her chin. She wiped at the rivulets, smudging the red across her chin. The liquid stained her chin and her hand, but it just kept coming. She tried again. It didn’t work. Now her attention was caught by something else. 

The shadow under one of her eyes was elongating, no, just moving. More and more of the white of her eye became visible, as if her skin was peeling away from it. She reached up to feel if it was really happening but her hand was shaking too much to move it accurately. Veins wormed their way across the surface of her eye, green and enlarged. 

Her breathing quickened as Selina backed away from the mirror in panic, wiping at her chin and lips again. The back of her hand was dyed red from whatever it was. She could feel the weight of her skin pulling it off her muscles, off her bones. Everything felt like it was being sucked off her bones, taken by something she couldn’t see. 

Selina looked down at the red on her hand, wanting something to distract her from the feeling in her face. While one hand was covered in a red stain, the other was worse. Her fingers were shrivelling as she watched, turning from deft tools into bony sticks, the skin shrinking and pulling tight against the withering tendons. Her heart began to race as her eyes traced the green veins working their way through her skin.

The sound of shattering glass came from the front of the store. A few small pieces rained down on her, and she spun around, a hiss forming in her throat. Two figures stood in the broken window, silhouetted against the glow of the street lights outside. Something seemed wrong with the air out there, it was the wrong colour. Particles were moving with the wind.

The two people in the window were large, they seemed as big as some of Bane’s lackeys. Shoulder to shoulder, they blocked most of the light as they moved menacingly forward. One reached forward for her, but she didn’t wait for them to reach her.

She jumped forward, her foot slamming into one of the hulking figure’s heads. Whatever was happening to her skin wasn’t doing anything to her skills. It fell like a sack of bricks, hitting the floor with a quiet thud. The other one swung at her, but it was far too slow to have any chance against her. 

A kick to the knee, a wet crunch, and that one fell too. It roared as it did so, one of anger and pain and…fear? Selina didn’t stop to think, bringing a foot down on the other one’s throat. It gasped, a wet choking sound. The one with the broken knee reached out for her ankle, but one stamp from her foot and she felt the bones in it’s hand give way. Both things stopped moving.

Selina backed into the dark corner of the shop, her hands and legs shaking. She tried to avoid looking at anything, closing her eyes as her back hit the wall and she sunk to the floor, trying to ignore the voices whispering in her ears. She recognised them, and she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to listen to them at all.

Selina wasn’t aware how much time had passed when she started feeling normal again. The voices had stopped, everything felt fine, though one of her legs felt sore. She slowly opened her eyes, looking down at her hands. One was completely normal, the other just had a lipstick stain on the back. Shakily, she got to her feet and made her way to the nearest mirror. 

Her reflection was cracked, her skin too pale. Her lipstick was smudged to one side of her lips, drawn across in a thick line. Her chin was completely clean, no lines of red or smudges of anything. She took a few seconds to calm her breathing and heart before she looked over to the window. 

Two men laid under the shattered glass, one clutching his hand and weeping quietly. The other didn’t move at all, not even the up or down of his chest. His face seemed too blue to be healthy. Selina drew herself to her full height, stalking over and walking out the front door. The bell rang above her head as she exited the store.

She hoped that Batman found Scarecrow first, otherwise no one would be able to hold her back.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my second fic, second (probably) in the collection. Hopefully some more will be done soon.
> 
> Thanks for reading!


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